Why nobody is critiquing your workout (READ THIS before making a beginner program)

[StarDustImages]

Great Post! My bf has been going to the gym for about 2 years now and has come a long way, I've just started so I use him as my help when I need ideas on what to do because I'm just a beginner. He's been learning from people around him and countless sites on whats best for what and I think thats sound advice, when you don't know what you're doing get over it and ask someone who does

[Adimi24]

the billstarr link doesnt work anymore because geocites is down, can someone link one for it that works please

[Adimi24]

i mean its closed, not down

[UEN]

Thanks for the info.

[fastcamaro777]

I didn't start lifting weights until I was in college at about 19, I made little gains, but when I turned 21 and until now with out test boosters I have made freak gains since then maybe its genetics or hard work, but don't turn to riods it a dead end

[J.X]

This just pisses me off because there have been at least 10 posts asking for a routine critique after this post.

I say if we even bother to respond to these posts, all we say is, "Starting Strength" and let them figure it out. Seriously, this **** gets old.

I am going to do this. I exhausted myself trying to explain who Rippertoe was to somebody, recommended the book and then they began asking more questions.

Waste of time. Besides, anyone can go to the main site & pull general workout plans from there. That's pretty much what I do and tweak them to my needs and my equipment. Pretty simple for anyone to find.

[ghinton]

OK. I just got through a 12 week program that I printed off BB site. Saw some gains but I have been reading how important it is to build a foundation, so that is my goal. I'm going to do it with Ripptoe. I even got the book from the library. Since this workout is so highly recommended I am going to do it for 12 weeks. It's hard to wrap my mind around only doing 3 or 4 exercises and seeing much gains, but I am going to trust the professionals. If your all wrong I will personally hunt you down!

[Heathieus]

OK. I just got through a 12 week program that I printed off BB site. Saw some gains but I have been reading how important it is to build a foundation, so that is my goal. I'm going to do it with Ripptoe. I even got the book from the library. Since this workout is so highly recommended I am going to do it for 12 weeks. It's hard to wrap my mind around only doing 3 or 4 exercises and seeing much gains, but I am going to trust the professionals. If your all wrong I will personally hunt you down!

I'm not sure if this is the proper thread to be posting my questions but, here is my situation.

I've been an athlete my whole life. I started lifting in my sophomore year of college. And with the help of weight gainer I put on about 45 lbs of muscle my first 2 years of body building. Any way I was able to basically maintain my gains over the next 10 years. Sure I put on a few pounds around my waste and did quite a bit of binge drinking. Three years ago I completely stopped working out. I got married had two kids ect.... My body basically turned to mush. About a month ago I started working about again. I grab a beginners routine off of this website it was basic lift 3 days a wk. cardio on off days. Here I am a month in and I’ve dropped almost 10 lbs and started to see real progress. But I'm already really board of the routine I picked to start with. Is it ok switch up my routine and go back to my routine from 3 years ago already? Can I at least incorporate some other exercises? Should I stick with this routine for at least 6 weeks?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

[woodsd13]

great post

[Wikus]

Thanks a ton for this thread.. My only regret is that I read it after I created 'review my schedule' thread.. Anyways, better late than never..

Cheers

[Steadfast421]

Prologue: I remember years ago when I first started working out and posting here I went out and put together a program all on my own. I thought it through very thoroughly and was very proud of myself when I'd finished. I made a new thread about it and asked for people to critique it in the title. I expected for the most part people would approve of it and might offer tiny suggestions to improve on it.

What I got was people telling me it was awful and I needed to scrap it completely and pick up a pre-made program which was created by someone who was an expert in the weightlifting/strength training or bodybuilding field.

I was upset and annoyed at the time, however it was sound advice. They were right. My program sucked, I did not know what I was doing and if I'd followed it I wouldn't have made any significant long-term gains.

Ask yourself this: Do you know more than Mark Rippetoe, Bill Starr or anyone who has studied strength and hypertrophy training for years and has had countless more years of empirical evidence to refine their knowledge on how to make progress in the gym? (The answer is, of course, "no").

Then why would you use some program you've made over one of theirs?

Why your program is terrible:
1) You've probably designed your program with way too many exercises and way too much volume for a beginner.
- Your program should consist primarily of the following exercises: the squat, the bench press, the deadlift, heavy rows and plenty of core work.
- You do not need endless sets of isolation work right now. You need to focus on compound movements and work on getting a solid base/frame.
- Right now you need to focus on correct form. Master squatting, benching and deadlifting. It's not easy. Odds are you're doing a terrible job on at least two of those exercises. Get a trainer, preferably one who looks like they lift and who has a background in powerlifting, and have them coach you on these essential lifts.

2) You've probably designed your program with way too much emphasis on mirror muscles and not enough on others.
- A good program will have at least as much focus, if not considerably more, on one's back than on one's pecs. Often you see people making programs which have several different benching variations (incline, decline, dumbells, etc), dumbell flies, cable crosses, etc... and then when it's time for back day they do some lat pulldowns and maybe some other fairly useless exercise. This can lead to muscle imbalances which later down the road will mess you and your rotator cuff up. You don't want that. Back in the day when lifters spend tons of time on their back doing rows, pullups, face pulls, deadlifts and other exercises and had strong backs -- nobody had RC problems.
- You're probably neglecting your legs, but this isn't always the case with newbies making programs.

3) You've probably designed your program and left out tons of crucial information.
- What are your goals? Strength? Hypertrophy? General fitness? What is your program supposed to do?
- What is your level of fitness? While it's usually "beginner", often times people don't even bother to say. An advanced lifter will have a drastically different routine than a beginner. Often times beginners don't realize this and they try to emulate a program designed for someone who has been lifting for years. Small muscles, like yours, don't need nearly as much stimulation to shock them into growth. If you overdo it, you'll just burn yourself out and get nowhere.
- Sometimes you see truly awful programs which just toss out a number of exercises and don't bother to elaborate and then they expect someone to critique it. Other times you get a little more. I've yet to see someone incorporate rest times or tempo into their home-made programs, despite it being important stuff. The answer is because you probably don't understand it, which is precisely why you shouldn't be making your own program to begin with.

4) Lastly, we see ****ty programs like yours every day. Often multiple. Frankly, it's tiresome. Please, read the stickies and pick a program which will work from there. There is a saying that "Anything will work... for about 6 weeks", which is probably true. You might see minor progress with whatever terrible program you've made but in time you will stall out and you will not make much, if any, progress. Think long-term, drop your ego and realize there are people out there who dedicate their lives to this and they know more than you. Find a program which suits your level of fitness and your goals. Use it.

5) Here are some excellent programs which I hope you consider looking into:

- Rippetoes aka Starting Strength: I can personally attest to this program being superb. It's designed for any novice or beginner lifter but also for more experienced lifters who might not be used to a program consisting of heavy, compound movements. This will get you strong and if your diet is in order you will get bigger.

- Bill Starr 5x5 aka Madcow 5x5: I love this one. It's for an intermediate lifter and the focus of this program is to get you strong as quickly as possible. And it works.

- HST (Hypertrophy/Strength Training): I haven't personally lifted in this style but plenty of people swear by it. This should work well for someone looking for gains in both strength and hypertrophy (ie. getting both strong and bigger muscles).

- German Volume Training: I've ran this and even having lifted for years before I ran it I was sore as a dog after pretty much every workout. DOMS doesn't necessarily mean it's working, but this is a pretty rough ride. GVT is designed to primarily make you bigger (hypertrophy).

- There are PLENTY of other programs. Here is a guide here, one of the stickies you SHOULD have already read...

- You should also venture out into the other sections, the Nutrition and Exercise ones especially (not so much the misc, you're better off not going there). I can promise you that you're going to learn a lot and help your progress if you do.

To be honest, the beginning sounds exactly like me, but I haven't gotten to the point in my story where I can look back and laugh. I'm a little frustrated because I'm not quite sure what goals to set for myself and which program to pick up. Currently I'm 5'11"-6'0" and 175 lbs with 15% bf; ideally I'd like to be 185-190 with about 8-10%. I'm not a bodybuilder and probably never will be, I have weak genetics and compared to the rest of my extended family I'm at the peak of my physique, but I don't want this to be it. I'm 20 and maybe I'm a lil behind when it comes to being a beast, but I'd like some advice on getting to my goal weight and bf and help deciding on a program that suits those goals.

p.s.- the madcow link is broken and the reason i took all the links out is apparently i need more posts before i can put up links. haha true noob....

[Steadfast421]

bump. i could use some advice....

[Angelica95]

Thanks for the great post! I’m not a total beginner (been lifting for a week now LOL) but I cant’ imaging trying to create my own workout or “diet” plan. Why bother when there are some great ones already done (by experienced people) right here on this site? Not to mention most gym have a trainer on site (mine does) who can get you started.

[soclydeza]

good post. wasted 2 years writing my own routines that i thought were good and didnt have much to show for it. i recently started following a premade routine and have had more to show in the past month than i did those 2 years. NOTE TO BEGINNERS: seek out a premade routine that has proven results

[manuelpf]

nice post...

[Multivac]

Just signed up with the forums and this probably prevented me from posting one of my custom made 5x5 programs for my re-entry into some hypertrophy.

Thanks for the information!

[RippedAchilles]

good stuff, thanks for the post.

[penkin]

Thanks for the awesome post. I'm super new around here and the more advise I can find the better. Looking at starting a routine now, seeing what supplements I should take etc etc.

For workout advice I'm turning my attention to these two routines:
A Simple Beginner's Routine
Guide to Novice Barbell Training, aka the Official RIPPETOE-STARTING STRENGTH FAQ

Sorry, can't post links yet

[robbiri]

thanks for the post; a lot of good information for me; I've been needing to improve my workout program for awhile and just haven't done it yet. Keep up the good posts

[dhampir46]

This sticky helped alot, been on starting strength for 4 weeks, look forward to building a nice base to build off of in the future.

[wladimirov]

Sounds very familair I made a program too, but it was nothing like one I found on this forum.. The one on this forum was way better..

[REVIVAL]

the billstarr link doesnt work anymore because geocites is down, can someone link one for it that works please

http://www.wackyhq.com/madcow5x5/geo...Linear_5x5.htm

[BauerFitness]

I agree...great points!!!

[LCOB]

I also posted a question..not to rate my workout but similar...I do have to say that I will figure it out as I will not be the annoying newbie not researching on her own...but that being said this site has so so so much information it is hard for people to get around..not just moi.....I belong to a couple of forums but some dont and even abbreviations like OP put some off..imagine this is the first forum ever you have joined..I remember somebody directing me to a sticky..I remember thinking what the F is a sticky? It's not like it's an obvious name...so that being said not to be nicer to newbies because from what I read everybody already is...but maybe a little more in your face on the home page as to where newbies should go...like a dummies guide if you will

Lorraine

[BeyondMeasure]

Where do i find visualy charts of workouts? I don't understand exactly what some workouts/excersizes are supposed to look like by description. Is there a visual description anywhere? How would i search the forum for it?

[curtstl7]

how about not acting like a hard ass and just answer beginners questions?

[CodySix4]

Hello!! Newb here! When doing your sets. Do you do your certain workout sets in a row or do you divide them up.

For instance, if I was doing the following workout:

3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x5 Power Cleans

Would I do Squat, Squat, Squat, Bench, Bench, Bench, Power, Power, Power

or would I do

Squat, Bench, Power, Squat, Bench, Power, Squat, Bench, Power??

[jacques43]

i nee to foucs over my shoulders now.. i have been igoring them for quite a while now but now its time to get hem back int o shapes...

[Jayd56]

Great Post! I know too well about the rotator cuff pain created by doing your own program.

[kayos098]

ijust really got into it about 2 months ago and i cant believe this. there is no need to HAVE to follow these plans. my dad used to be a power lifter and all you have to do to start off is the basics. i do 3 days of work then 1 day of rest different muscle groups every day. and it works great for me. basics and eat right for a base, thats all anybody needs to know whos starting